The present invention generally relates to an optical fiber winding apparatus and more particularly to a system and method for winding fiber fixed at both ends.
An excessive length of optical fiber is often required to connect two or more optical components. Once these optical components are connected, an excess fiber slack is created between them, especially if the optical components are intended to be proximal to each other. This fiber slack must be taken up by winding or coiling it. This process can be time-consuming and, if poorly done, can result in tangling or damaging the fiber.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,877 to Wislinski discloses a fiber winding and storage assembly in which a loose optical fiber with both ends free is manually wrapped around a fiber storage device. There is a need for an apparatus that winds a fiber with fixed ends. There is also a need for an apparatus that winds a fiber automatically, more systematically, or more quickly than in the prior art. The present invention aims to solve these problems. Other advantages of the present invention will be obvious to one skilled in the art.
In one aspect of the present invention, an optical fiber winding apparatus comprises a base, a plurality of fiber containment devices connected to the base, and a fiber guider connected to and movable in a repeatable path with respect to the base, wherein the guider winds the fiber around the fiber containment devices. In another aspect, the apparatus is hand-held and the path of the guider overlaps itself in a single cycle of the path, such as a figure-eight.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of winding optical fiber comprises threading the fiber into a fiber guider that is movably connected to a base, and moving the guider in a repeatable path about a plurality of fiber containment devices that are connected to the base to wind the fiber around the fiber containment devices. In yet another aspect, the apparatus is hand-held and the path of the guider overlaps itself in a single cycle of the path, such as a figure-eight.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a method of winding slack optical fiber between optical components provides a plurality of optical components, connects the components with optical fiber, threads the fiber into an optical fiber winding apparatus, and operates the apparatus. In another aspect, the method further comprises winding the fiber in a figure-eight configuration and unthreading the fiber from the apparatus.